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More than 1,200 NHS staff have won compensation after being injured by needles potentially infected with HIV or hepatitis over the past six years.

Official figures reveal an “unacceptable” picture of widespread failures to dispose of needles safely, resulting in pay-outs of at least £4,077,441 since 2012.

Hospitals are under a strict legal obligation to dispose of syringes safely, usually by means of a solid, brightly marked “sharps” bin, which doctors and nurses should ensure are close at hand before administering injections.

However, data from NHS Resolution, the body that handles negligence claims against trusts, shows there were 1,833 claims for so-called needlestick injuries between 2012 and 2017.

Of the 1,212 successful claimants, three-quarters were ancillary workers such as porters, cleaners and maintenance staff.

Once accidentally pricked by a used needle, victims face weeks of harrowing uncertainty before finding out if they have contracted a blood-borne disease.

On Saturday workers’ representatives said low-paid staff are living in fear of getting a life-changing illnesses because clinicians do not follow basic guidelines.

The NHS Resolution document said filling sharps bins to dangerous levels, or failing to use them at all, were common reasons for “avoidable” injuries.

Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, which represents tens of thousands of hospital support staff, said: “It’s completely unacceptable for staff to be put in danger when they are simply trying to do their job.

“Such injuries cause unnecessary stress and can have a huge impact on someone’s health. This means time off and ultimately has an impact on patients’ treatment.

“Training needs to get better and trusts must enforce safety."

The risk of infection from an infected patient following exposure to a patient’s blood via a needlestick injury is roughly one in three for hepatitis B, one in 30 for hepatitis C and one in 300 for HIV.

As well as support workers, medical staff can also be at risk and accounted for 11 per cent of the successful claims for compensation between 2012 and 2017.

Surgeons face the particular danger of accidentally stabbing themselves with an infected needle or sharp instrument while operating.

In 2016 more than 8,000 patients were at the centre of a major health scare after it emerged they had been treated by a surgeon infected with hepatitis C.

Robert Pickard had unknowingly lived with the disease for decades after injuring himself while carrying out a routine operation.

The consultant died in 2012, having stopped practising when he was diagnosed with the disease in 2008, however the alarm was raised when two of his patients subsequently tested positive for hepatitis C.

The new figures emerge the month after evidence was heard by the official inquiry into the tainted tainted blood scandal, which may have affected 25,000 people who received blood transfusions contaminated with HIV and hepatitis in the 1970s and 1980s.

They include more than 5,000 people with the clotting disorder haemophilia, given clotting agents which used human blood plasma from the US, from paid donors including drug addicts, sex workers and prisoners.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Hard working NHS staff deserve to work in a safe environment. We expect all Trusts to have clear guidance on disposal of used needles and all other sharp materials, and procedures in place for any staff who are injured.”

In addition to the 1,212 successful claims against NHS trusts, up to 326 cases remain open